Family Ties
by FleckedWings90900
Summary: Max has an abortion without letting Fang know.
1. Family Ties

Max had always known in her head that she'd done the right thing. But sometimes her heart was hard to convince. The timing simply hadn't been right for a baby – they'd been busy saving the world for God's sake. They couldn't have managed it with a child in tow.

She'd never regretted not telling Fang. He'd have needed to talk it over for hours on end, considering and reconsidering all of the options. And when they'd had the abortion he would have held it as a heavy burden on his heart.

Still, Max felt a kind of painful longing sometimes – twinges of nostalgia for a life she'd never had. She could almost see the child – perhaps a strong boy, with her dirty blond hair and Fang's obsidian eyes. Or perhaps a girl, with jet black hair, brown eyes and a raven's wings and fighting spirit. However they turned out, she would love them unconditionally and so would Fang. But this could never be. They'd never be able to stop running, hiding from the world.

And so she nodded firmly to herself and rebuilt all her walls. She wiped away a small stray tear and replaced her 'Leader Max' mask as she heard footsteps coming through the forest. Because she had to be okay. For the family she did have. For the Flock.

Fang had known that something had been up with Max. He'd tried to get Angel to pry with her mind reading, but to her credit she'd refused to allow him access to Max's thoughts. He'd tried asking what was wrong – perhaps it had been something he had done? But she had refused to speak to him alone for months, ever since they had stopped off in NYC. He tried running through his head all the situations they had been in and how he could've been at fault.

There was when the chip had been removed – he had never really stopped teasing her about how much she looooved him. Maybe she had gotten sick of the taunting?

There had been the discussions about settling down with the flock – but they had resolved all of those, and it had been her lead that he had followed, as always.

It couldn't be to do with the special night they had had, could it? He had planned everything so well; a walk, a waterfall, swimming and then the cave where they... consummated their relationship.

Fang started combing through the details of the evening when suddenly it struck him – had they used protection? He didn't think so; they hadn't really had access to any supplies. It couldn't be that Max was pregnant; she would have to be at least 3 months at this point.

Then realisation struck like a lightning bolt. His beautiful, strong, brave girlfriend, his fearless leader, had tried to hide the consequences of that night and her evident decision from him. Part of him was upset that she hadn't felt like she could come and talk to him, but he understood why she hadn't. She hadn't wished to burden him with this information, but had burdened him none the less, through the concern he had felt for her. Fang set off to go and find Max.

At twenty five years old, Maximum Ride sat up in the guest bed at Dr M's house, cradling her child as her husband came through the doorway. They looked into each other's eyes and remembered the hours they had spent crying together when they had spoken about their unborn miracle. Apart from that one day, they had never spoken about it again. But they both remembered it well, and vowed that they would do the best they could with their newborn. Because they could do anything. Together.


	2. New Beginnings

**This was a prompt from TehMasterpiece, requesting that I do a story about Max and Fang's child finding out about the abortion. Thanks so much for sending in a request, and I hope this lives up to your expectations.**

Nova - a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returning to its original state over a few months. In name origins, it represents new beginnings.

Nova had been born when her mother was 25 years old. Her father had been standing nearby, and her grandmother (a vet) had been helping out through the process. For this was no normal pregnancy. Both her mother and father had wings, and were a part of the family known as the Flock. With their world saving days over, they had finally decided to settle down and start a family, a genetic family, of their own.

On the 21st of June Nova had made her way into the world with an almighty scream. It was the day of the summer solstice, a time when the world celebrated moving into a new phase, and so Nova had always thought she had been named after her birth date. That is, until one day in her 16th year of life...

Nova POV

"Mom! Where's the packing tape?" I yelled downstairs. I had finally finished packing up my room for our move back to the E house, all the way in Colorado. I'm so excited to live in the same house my parents were so happy in when they were children. I poked my head out the window, and yelled down to the van that's sitting on the front lawn. "Hey Dad! Where's Mom? I need the packing tape!"

Dad's head, with the same dark hair I have, stuck out of the back of the moving van. In his hand was the tape, which he promptly started waving about like a madman. I threw my other window open, and jumped from the ledge into the tree about 2 metres away. I shimmied down quickly, ignoring my dad's disapproving shake of his head as well as the barely hidden smirk at my antics. It didn't matter now if the neighbours cottoned on to us being… unusual.

I remember as a child, when I first unfurled my wings (carbon copies of my mom's by the way) being warned that if people saw them then bad things might happen. I know now that my parents were only ever worried for my sake, scared that someone might kidnap me for ransom after they saw what I was. But we were moving now, somewhere untraceable, so what did it matter who saw anything out of the ordinary? I knew this and so did my dad.

I ran over to the van and jumped at my dad. As normal, he dropped what was in his hands (in this case thankfully only the packing tape) and caught me. I'd been trying to catch him off guard since I was about 6, but had never yet been successful.

"Hey kiddo," my dad said as he put me down "Nearly done?" My dad had never really changed his speaking patterns from childhood, according to my mom. He never really said too much, but always managed to convey exactly what he wanted.

"Yup! All done." I replied "Do you need my help anywhere else?" I was actually buzzing in excitement over this move. I didn't have too many attachments here, and a fresh start was always fun anyway.

"Sure, attic". I walked back into the house, packing tape now in hand, and stopped quickly in my old room to tape up the last box and to grab a couple other boxes. Running up the stairs, I jumped up three at a time, then leaped into the air at the top to grab the cord that hung down from the door of the attic, and tugged down as I landed. The stairs gently fell into place, and I walked up into the dark attic. I flicked the light switch, and started shifting boxes. Most had labels on them, so I just checked the tape was secure, then moved it into a pile to go down.

A couple of hours later I was nearly done. I had seen so many memories of mine and my parents in those boxes. My art as a child, photos of the whole flock when they were younger, some legal stuff about the mortgages and stuff… We were keeping all of it, and my parents would see what they could throw away when we arrived at the E house.

Then, I came to the final area of boxes - the baby memories. There were loads of pictures of me as a child, I know, and I've seen quite a few. I kind of wanted to see them again before they were packed up and hidden away again. I opened one of the boxes, and in it were stacks and stacks of photos of me growing up. There was my Aunt Angel holding me when I was a baby, me at 4 holding something that looks suspiciously like a bomb with Uncle Gazzy and Uncle Iggy standing next to me grinning. There's me shopping for a middle school disco outfit with Auntie Nudge, and hundreds of my parents holding me, or hugging me, or standing with me looking proud.

I go through three more boxes in much the same way, looking at the photos, my birth certificate, my health records, old drawings. My entire life was in these boxes, and I felt so loved looking through them.

In the bottom of the current box, tucked away in a corner, was a little dark blue shoebox. I pulled it out and onto my lap, and lifted the lid. In it was lots of post-it notes, in all different colours. Written on them were many different things. There was an orange one with _brave_ , a pink one with _strong_ , a blue one with _artistic_ , a green one with _loyal_ … there must have been about 80 in total in this box. As I fished through further, I found a piece of lined paper folded in half at the bottom.

 _Dear Phoenix -_

 _My baby. I will always love you, always regret the choices I had to make. At the time I gave you up, I knew that your life would not be a happy one. I couldn't have taken the care of you I should, you would always be in constant danger, always on the run, always a target. I let you go because I loved you, and I couldn't bear to see any child of mine have to go through what I had to._

 _This is what I tell myself, and what I've told your father. They're reasons, but not excuses. In all honesty it's my own selfishness that means I can't keep you. I need to be free, not held back in my role as a mother. I'd love to be your mother but I have so much more to do, to be, before I can be ready. I can tell myself that I can't save you because I have to save the world, but I can't ever truly convince myself I did the right thing._

 _This box is the way that your father and I have begun the healing process. I didn't tell him about the abortion, but he knew anyway. He always know when something is wrong. There are so many hopes we have about what you'll be like, so many dreams we would dream for you. I can't explain to anyone how much I wish I could see you grow up, to be like me, like Fang, yet with your own beautiful spirit._

 _I feel the need to confess, in my only letter, my only connection to you, that I don't think I'll ever be able to open this box again. I think it will be a painful memory always, tinged with sadness, but opening this box will bring back a sharp stab of despair._

 _I love you always sweetheart._

 _But I need to keep going. I need to be okay in the future, for the future of the world, the future of the flock, the future of Fang, for my future. For the future of any children that would've been your younger siblings._

 _I would have named you Phoenix, for the bird that rises from the ashes of the flame that it dies in. I believe you would have been just as strong, beautiful, brilliant, resilient as the immortal bird itself._

 _Max_

I couldn't contain myself as tears ran down my face. I might've had an older sister, to advise me, to take care of me, to share secrets with. I might've had an older brother, to protect and watch over me, to wrestle with, to be my best friend.

"Sweetheart, how's it going" my mom's voice rang up the stairs.

I tried to yell back that I was fine, but my voice cracked on the first syllable. I couldn't hide my feelings from her - I wasn't able to any time in the past 16 years, I still couldn't now. She came marching up the stairs, but stopped dead when she caught sight of the box in my hands and the tears on my cheeks.

She said nothing, just walked over slowly, and when she was next to me and I had yet to move, she gracefully dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around me. As always, I felt safe in my mom's warm hug, but this time I knew there was a deep sadness within her. She wasn't as untouchable as I had always thought. But to me she seemed more brave, more indestructable, more infinite than I had ever seen her before.

We sat together, clutching together in a hug that lasted for what felt like a lifetime. When my dad walked in on us, both with damp faces, he took the box gently from my hands and put the lid on. He placed it in the box of pictures, but this time on top of everything instead of hidden away. He closed the box, and took one of my hands in his.

"If you ever have any questions or want to talk, both of us will be happy to chat. Please have patience though, it's a very painful subject. Just remember that we love you, and we'll help you in any way we can."

No matter what, my family was indestructible. My parents loved me just as much as they would've loved Phoenix. I was cared for, and I didn't need to know more. I knew how my mom felt from the letter, and I know, more than anything, that they are proud of me and love me unconditionally.

And with this new knowledge, I walked downstairs, took a deep breath, and closed the door on the secrets of that house. I knew everything now. I climbed into the truck, in the seat behind my dad, and looked at the house shrinking away.

This was a new start for all of us, returning to the house my parents were children in, and I faced the future with a new sadness in my heart, but happy thoughts of the life that could have been, and the life that I had and loved making everything okay.

3rd Person POV

It took a few days for Nova to recognise the significance of her name, how she was the new beginning for her parents. By that time they had settled in the E House, enjoying the privacy and tranquility it provided. They had talked, and dreamed, and laughed, and cried together. Because it truly was a new beginning for all of them.


End file.
